It was the last night of October, the rain had stopped earlier in the evening, and Church Street was closed between Gloucester and Wood streets. It was ‘Halloween on Church’, an annual street party filled with costumes on display wanting to be seen and other people wanting to see and take pictures. These photos represent only a small selection of what there was to be seen that night (obviously!).

below: A one night stand to remember

below: Glowing red and green

below: Japanese ghouls, dressed to kill?

below: White man on keyboard.

below: A group of people went as the 3D Toronto sign.

below: More playing with lights, this time as stick people.

below: Looking at instagram in a new light, from a different point of view.

below: With a doll and a lit candle

below: With a doll and a dog.

below: This one is for Jude, something about wanting to take this one home with her…..

This is a “Thursday door” post. If you are interested in doors and want to see other people’s blog posts about doors, start with Norm 2.0’s blog post. At the the bottom of that post you will find a link to many more!

This year’s Nuit Blanche was on September 28th and 29th. The night’s activities were spread over a large number of locations around the city. That was a few days ago so yes, I am a bit behind. I was laid low for a couple of days with this cold that’s been going around… or I took a few days to recover from being up until 3:30 a.m.!

below: Part of ‘Continuum: Pushing Towards the Light’ by Brandy Leary and the Anandam Dancetheatre. They made they way across the glass enclosed bridge over Queen Street between the Eaton Centre and The Bay store.

below: More from the same installation, this time from the “right” side. It was great for making shadow figures. Thanks to Jude for starting off the evening with me… and getting creative (silly?) too.

below: We found a photo shoot on Bay Street.

below: On Bloor Street, nothing to do with Nuit Blanche but it looked cool. Reflections and lights.

below: Eaton Centre, a quieter moment that night.

below: Checking the map. Yonge Dundas Square – the installation there was very unimpressive so I took people pics instead.

below: At Church of the Redeemer (Avenue Road and Bloor), Korean Dancers. “Star Moon Water Stone” by Ensemble Jeng Yi

below: Drummers, same venue as above.

below: ‘This Storm is You’ at the Ontario Science Centre, an installation by Zahra Saleki. Photography on the walls and stories on the floor.

below: Walk among the stories. “Every story deserves to be lit. Grab a sharpie and write yours.”

below: Smile!.. and a testament to the start of love. Two of many lit stories.

below: Saleki’s photos displayed here are abstract dance photographs in black and white. Negative images and slowing the camera to produce the blur of motion.

below: This is what you saw when you first got off the subway (is the SRT a subway?) at Scarborough Town Centre. It’s part of the ‘The Things They Carried’ Babel series. The motifs are similar to those on the installation at Yonge -Dundas Square, that oops, I don’t have a picture of.

below: At Scarborough Civic Centre, ‘Everything I Wanted to Tell You’ by Hiba Abdallah. A series of words in lights projected onto several buildings. The words changed every few seconds to tell a story or two.

below: More of the words. “People hold on so tightly to a specific narrative of this place”.

below: More projections at Scarborough Civic Centre. Sorry, not sure which installation this is.

below: Scarborough Town Centre (mall) had a mountain of inflatable globes you could walk under, or just look at. ‘Walk Among Worlds’ by Maximo Gonzalez

below: Weaving stories, ‘Interlacing’ by Community Arts Guild, at Scarborough Town Centre.

Kusama’s polka-dot paintings were based on visual hallucinations she has experienced throughout her life, often based on “a miserable childhood as an unwanted child born of unloving parents.” These hallucinations often involve repeating patterns that engulf her field of vision, a process she refers to as “obliteration”. Painting has helped to keep her demons at bay, to obliterate her anxieties.

In 1968 she returned to Japan. In 1977 she checked herself into the Tokyo mental hospital where she has lived ever since. She has a studio where she works during the day but she returns to the hospital at night.

below: In an effort to keep the waiting times down, the AGO is letting three people at a time into the rooms. I’m not sure who the man is, but he seemed to put up with Joanne and I and our cameras! This was the first room in the exhibit and it was a bit of a let down – it was the only one that wasn’t impressive. Minor gripe – why not a mirror on the ceiling?

below: 30 seconds per visit. All timed – note the stopwatch!

below: Stars and planets into infinite. Small specks in the vastness of the universe. Obliteration of the self as we become just a very tiny, minuscule dot in the infinite of space. This exhibit is “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” and is made with hundreds of hanging LED lights.

below: The words on the wall say, “The souls of millions of light years away”. This is the line-up for the room above. It was one of the shorter lines.

Kusama was born in Japan in 1929 and trained originally in traditional Japanese painting. One of the only American painters that she knew of was Georgia O’Keefe, having seen her work in an art book. She wrote to Georgia O’Keefe asking for advice on how to break into the New York art world. In 1958 she moved to New York City where she became part of the avant-garde art scene. She was into pop art and hippie counterculture. She organized a series of anti-war public performances featuring naked people who were painted with brightly colored polka dots.

below: This room was fun especially since I got to spend a few seconds alone in it. Dancing with pink balls.

below: Looking into “Love Forever” – a small hexagonal box with some mirrors on the outside and two small windows (peepholes!) as seen from the outside. This structure/exhibit was first shown in 1966.

below: Looking in the window…. It’s amazing what can be done with mirrors and lights in a small space. Mirrors combined with the technology of LED lights that can change colours with computer controlled programs made for an impressive display. An endless repetition of patterns.

below: Same room, different colours

below: Obliteration Room – multicoloured stickers that people have added to an all white room with all white furniture and accessories like wine glasses and dog dishes. As more people pass through, the more colourful the room becomes. The dots make it difficult to see the details in the room. Can you tell what is on the table?

Is there anyone who doesn’t complain about driving in Toronto?
Does anyone have a solution that we can all agree on?
No.

Yesterday Toronto began an experiment on King Street. An experiment that CBC called a disaster on its first day. This morning I went to check it out for myself. It was mid-morning so there weren’t many cars. Also, weekday drivers and Sunday drivers downtown are different. On weekdays it’s the regulars who know the roads because they drive them all the time. Does that make a difference? – I’m not sure.

below: At most intersections between Bathurst and Jarvis, traffic is not allowed to proceed straight through – you must turn right. Streetcars and bicycles are the exceptions. The traffic signals now have advanced green arrows to allow cars to turn right before the pedestrians cross the road. Taxis are allowed to go through only between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. You’ll notice that the left hand land has been painted with yellow stripes, i.e. no cars here!

below: Two more changes have appeared. First, the streetcar stops have been moved to after the intersection instead of before. Second, small barricades block the right hand lane after the intersection. These two changes have the effect of blocking cars who try to sneak through on King Street. If there is a streetcar, you’re stuck behind it. I did see a car try to pass a streetcar (on the left) but it was unsuccessful.

Many cars were disobeying the new traffic signs, some out of confusion and some blatantly flaunting the rules. Cars would pull into the right turn lane but then go through the light anyhow.

below: I wasn’t the only ones watching the traffic. Global TV was at King and Jarvis while CTV were stationed at King and Church.

below: CBC interviews people at King & Yonge as a black GMC goes through the intersection.

below: The lighter traffic makes for easier illegal left turns!

below: Taking pictures of drivers doing illegal things was like shooting fish in a barrel. There were a couple of police cars around but so far there are few consequences to doing what you want. It’s early days yet, right? Apparently starting next week, the fine for illegally going straight through the intersection will be $100 and 2 demerit points.

I have one suggestion and that is to change the traffic lights so that the only green is a right turn arrow. The streetcars would have their own light – something like the ‘white line light’ that is used at King and Sumach as well as at Eglinton and Duplex. Having an ordinary green light is almost giving mixed signals to the drivers.